He Knew
by 1hopelessromantic
Summary: Corny Collins knew. No one really knew that he knew, but he did. Let me start by saying that she was none other than Miss. Amber Von Tussle, and the thing he knew was…..well, I think you'll know if you just keep reading. Corny Collins knows something about Amber that no one else does. His POV for the whole movie and a little after. CornyxAmber! T for abuse.


He knew. Chapter 1

_Corny Collins knew._ No one really knew that he knew, but he did. But after a while she knew he knew. He never knew that she knew he knew, but she did. Now to make this a lot more simple let me start by saying that she was none other than Miss. Amber Von Tussle, and the thing he knew was…..well, I think you'll know if you just keep reading.

_Corny J. Collins knew_ that the person that everyone saw everyday wasn't her, it never had been. It was her mother's version of her, that was all._He knew_ that when she came to school tired, people believed she had spent the night with one of the boys on the football team, or Link but really she had just been up late dancing or singing, or following her mother's every command.

_He knew_ when she came to school with bumps and bruises everyone thought it was because she fell a lot in dance class. That's what she told them, but he knew it wasn't true. _He knew_ when she came to school with a swollen eye it wasn't' from pink-eye it was a black eye covered with every ounce of make-up she and her mother owned. _He knew_.

_He knew _that she didn't want to win Miss. Teenage Hairspray for the reasons everyone thought she did. They believed she wanted fame, and fortune, and popularity, and would do anything to get it, and in part they were right. Her mother wanted fame, and fortune and popularity and would do anything to get it, including forcing her daughter to do so so Velma Von Tussle could live out those dreams through her 17 year old daughter. _He knew that_. They didn't.

_He knew_ that if she didn't win Miss. Teenage Hairspray she might never live to be a Senior. If use was the person she wanted to be, who she really was, h_e knew_ she might never live to see the next _Corny Collins Show. _And he knew if use ever expressed anything other than complete and utter hatred towards those who weren't approved by her mother she wouldn't live to see the next morning. And it hurt him to know, he couldn't do anything about it. Velma was too big, and Amber wouldn't let him. And he knew, she needed to do it herself, or the issues would never really be resolved.

_He knew_ that when the show was over she would stay extra long. The other council members thought it was because she was hooking up with someone there but really _he knew_ that she sat in her shared dressing room and cried, every night. _He knew_that she had a pile of clothes under her vanity for those nights when her mother never picked her up, and he knew if he ever took her home both of their heads. So _he knew_, that he couldn't but _he also knew_ he wanted to.

_He knew_ that when they had shows the smile was as fake as her mother's face, body and hair. _He knew_ that when she shoved the other's aside it wasn't because she wanted to be in the spotlight it wasn't because she wanted the spotlight, and thought she was the only one who deserved it, it was because she knew if she didn't she'd be pushed 10x harder later. _He knew_ that when she was cruel it was to save herself, and _he knew_ she wanted to find that inner strength and just stand up to her mother, but her mother hadn't raised her with much backbone, or any good example of a person who could do what Amber so desperately wanted to, so she hadn't gotten to that point yet.

_He knew_ that when she was away from her mother she didn't drop the facade because she knew that her mother had connections everywhere an kept a very close eye on her daughter. She never dropped the persona so no one else knew that's what it was. But he did. _He knew_**.**

He remembered the month leading up to the '62 pageant. May 3rd, he remembered, was the first show of the spring season. That was the day he figured it out. The first day _he knew_. He remembered that day during _The Nicest Kids in Town _Link had dropped her. _He also knew_that Link Z. Larkin Jr. didn't like Amber at all, he was using her for his 'big break' and h_He also knew _that Amber _had _like him, and agreed to date him because she knew that's what her mother wanted, but also because she had had a crush on the boy. _He also knew_it had broken her heart when she found out he was using her, but she never let it show, as that would be a weakness that would not go over well with her mother, _at all. _

Now, back on track. As she fell that day everything changed. Corny might not have known then that she was abused by her mother and that the person she was, wasn't really who she was, but _he did know_ she had a mask. _He knew_ she felt more than she let on. So on May 3rd 1962 he was surprised to see her mask….crack. He had performed that song so many times he didn't need to think to know where he was going or what was coming out of his mouth, so he could zone out, or watch the other dancers. He picked a different dancer each performance to watch, see that they were all up to par, and this week, like a lot of them, was Amber-Watching-Week.

So, as Amber hit the ground and looked at Link Corny James Collins saw her mask crack. Her expression wasn't an over-the-top murderous glare, instead it showed confusion and hurt for being cast aside, he noticed it hurt her a bit, both mentally and physically. He also noticed she was used to it, because she didn't flinch. _He knew_ it was the first time in 3 years he had seen that invertible mask crack and the first time in at least a year he had seen her fall, he realized she was always careful not to. _That's_ when he realized. It all came crashing down on him, and _he knew_.

He felt a sorrow that was new to him, _he knew _this feeling though. It was Sorrow, how could a mother do that to her child. He did the one thing he could think of doing. He helped her up. He was chewed out by Velma later for making her daughter look _weak. _He didn't care. As he helped Amber up her mask remained cracked for another split second as she gave him a sheepish but grateful look on her face. The mask was placed back on but slipped when seeing the Council kids laughing at her and her mother's horrible look. Her face became this painful grimace but again it didn't last long. He saw the council kids laughing and it made him sad because they didn't know. Not like he did.

Bye Roll Call she was back. At the break he remembered Velma's comment '_White Direction' _He also remembered Amber going up to Shelly and yelling at her for pushing her during the performance. But what Shelly, and Bix who was standing next to her, didn't notice was all that anger was coming from fear. She knew, if her mother didn't forget that shove buy the end of the day, she was going to pay. So she tried to intimidate Shelly into not doing it ever again. Not because she wanted to be in the spotlight because she wanted to stay out of her mothers sight. She went over to Link, and Corny Collins knew. _He knew_ that Link didn't mean it, he didn't want her as his girlfriend he wanted to be a star, but _he knew_ that she didn't know that. He saw her gasp, and though it, like everything she did, was over the top he could tell she meant it. She was happy, excited. Then her mom came and told her to control it. As her mother stepped in-between Link and her Corny expected her to step back, but she didn't. Then_ he knew_, that wouldn't help her and _he knew_ she knew that. She _did _flinch when her mother's hand came up to touch her nose, but she played it off as a scrunched up face that was disappointed and disgusted that her nose could be _shiny. _

The next show, went badly. Link was singing _It Takes Two. _And _he knew_, it had been 'one of _those_ nights' for Amber. She was stiff and stood so far away from Jesse you'd think he had a disease. _He knew_ it was her mother's doing, her mother must have called her a slut. Amber's smile was so large it hurt your cheeks to look at and her eyes sparkled but the second the camera was off it dropped for a second, and _he knew_ it wasn't real. She kissed Link on the cheek and_ he knew_, it _was_ real. Link's never wavering look into the camera proved his feelings **weren't**. _He also knew_ that Maybelle didn't know like he did. He saw the poor cameraman give him an apologetic look before moving the camera in Link and Amber's direction. It was sad because after the show he saw Amber give Maybelle an apologetic look too. When no one was looking of course. But although Maybelle didn't notice, he did.

He wasn't there at the auditions but he did come in after. He asked Velma how it went and she told him that he would have to find someone at the Hop. He was fine with that. She told him she was leaving and that she wouldn't be able to take Amber home, and to let her know. _He knew_ she was in her dressing room, so when he knocked and didn't' get an answer he entered. He saw her, sound asleep on the floor. The dressing room was small. With four vanities. The biggest was Amber's and the other three girls resented her for it. The four girls who got to be in a dressing room were Velma's favorites. Besides Amber there was Shelly, Tammy, and LouAnn's vanities. Barely smaller but still noticeable.

He saw her, asleep in the middle of the floor. She had nothing covering her, now wearing a dress that was a little less frilly, she had been crying he noticed. He did the one thing he could think of. He picked her up and carried her to his dressing room and set her on the couch in there. He sat on his stool and read until she woke up. Then brought her some dinner and told her he had to leave and offered to drive her home. _He knew_ she'd say no but he asked so she wouldn't think he didn't care. She said no and he told her she could stay in his room, and though she said she'd be fine _he knew_ she would sleep on his couch tonight.

At the hop he saw how she regarded Tracy, and felt bad for both girls. Tracy, for having to believe that Amber really hated her, and Amber for having to hurt her feelings. He saw it, barely there even if you _were _looking, in her eyes, that she hated hating this girl. She hated the rope that separated the white and blacks, she hated pretending to hate Seaweed, when really she thought he was a real nice guy, and was inspired by his mom. But none of those real feelings would do where she was from, so she did. She didn't smile when she danced, she kept a stone face, because her mom wasn't there she didn't dance well, and he knew it had happened again, probably for sleeping on his couch and a feeling of pain shot through him._ He also knew_ that in the moment that Tracy danced in front of everyone her life flashed before her eyes. Her mom would not stand her being on the show, would not stand her being out shadowed by Tracy so, he had to ignore her when he said ye sot Tracy's dreams and crushed Velma's and he tried to not know that he put Amber's life in the irresponsible, incapable, inadequate, insane hands of her mother, for which all adjectives perviously listed applied to as well.

Her irresponsible mother left her alone most nights. Her incapable mother didn't feed her dinner, and when she did it was a small bowl of salad. Her inadequate mother beat her, and her insane mother lived her dreams through her daughter. Her sweet, scared, misunderstood, depressed, lonely, strong, lost, daughter. Her sweet daughter who got more pain from what she did to other's than what her mother did to her. Her sacred daughter who cowered away from her mother and followed her every demand. Her misunderstood daughter who was viewed as the royal bitch, a miniature copy of her mother. Her depressed daughter, who never smiled a real smile, never laughed a real laughed, never loved a real love. Her lonely daughter, whose only friends hated her, whose only boyfriend used her, whose only parent beat her. Her strong daughter, who took all this abuse and never cracked, never turned to alcohol or drugs to take away the pain, just fought through it. Her lost daughter, who didn't know how to escape, how to stop the torture, and the hurt she caused others, and that others caused her.

During Tracy's first _Nicest Kids In Town. _Her composure was slipping, trying anything to get into the spotlight, he let her for a few seconds, but _he knew_ she didn't mean the insults and wished that she could be like Tracy, and not be forced to care about how people viewed her. But that was out shadowed by a growing fear, fear of her home, of her mother. He noticed she started to hope that she would be left at the studio every night because she wouldn't get beaten, broken or bruised.

This all went on for too long. It had been 4 hard years on her. She had suffered so much and all he wanted to do was fix it, but he knew, she'd have to do it herself. And he was really proud when she finally did.


End file.
